Character Thoughts

I attended CONduit this weekend, a small but lively little SF&F convention held annually in Salt Lake city. In addition to seeing many good friends and making some new ones, I had the opportunity to attend some excellent sessions on writing.

One in particular stands out. Tracy Hickman discussed the craft of story, and mentioned again that our stories don't exist until someone reads them. We don't write to be published, but to be read.

I love that advice. It changes the entire landscape of what we are trying to accomplish and how we go about our business. It's not just about the numbers game, but about the craft and about sharing our stories in a meaningful way.

I believe it was also Tracy who talked about the important role of character. As you know from some of my previous posts on character, I've really been placing a lot of my recent writing education on character and why it's to important to story.

Well, Tray mentioned that we may not remember the plot or stories years later that we've read, but a really good character will stay with us.

That has proven entirely true in my case. I can remember characters from stories I read 25 years ago much better than the actual plot. In fact, I recently reread a book and had completely convoluted the plot in my mind, but the character stayed with me and was basically accurate.

Why is that? And why in some stories does the character just disappear?

I think this question involves that characters are put in situations that really cause them to think and challenge themselves. But it's more than that.

It's characters that have been well thought out and described and come to life. But it's more than that.

It's characters that have flaws they have to work through or deal with. But it's more than that, too.

Why do some characters have a greater impact than others? I think it's a combo of all those things: plot, setting, situation, conflict, and resolution that both speak to us and challenge our own way of thinking, and done so in a way that we both want to be like the characters and don't want to be like them.

And that is a quest we all must figure out, each time we write.

Vote for the Title of My Middle Grade Fantasy

Last week I posted about receiving my first ever official fan mail, a letter complete with two drawings of the mythical creatures in my middle grade. Also interesting to note from this 12-year-old young man was that he didn't like using the name of the main character, a girl named Lizzie Peterson, as the name for the book.

I've always liked using her name in the title. It has a nice ring to it, a sort of 'Harry Potter' feel as well, that lends itself easily to series.

On the other hand, two sisters, an 11 year old and a 13 year old, reported back today they both liked the title as it was.

So here's what I'm hoping from you: Vote on the titles. Let me know what you think. Which one would be most successful in marketing the book and the series? Which one would appeal to boys as well as girls? Just boys, or just girls?

I'll post the current teaser copy as well so you have a feel for the content.

Proposed titles:
Lizzie Peterson and the Places of Naming
or
Legends of Kyreo: The Places of Naming

Here's the blurb:

Lizzie Peterson craves adventure. Well, who wouldn’t if your secret pets—a unicorn and a flying horse—helped raise you to believe you might be a child of prophecy in a far off world? Yes, somewhere beyond her Ohio home is the magical world of Kyreo, where eleven-year-old Lizzie dreams of going someday to meet the cunning gnomes, the mystical faeries, and the hungry hippogriffs, and to see the five moons and the lands of crystal and cloud. And, of course, to find out what that prophecy really is all about.

But when the Shadow Wizard attacks Lizzie’s family, she and her brother Jack must flee to Kyreo just to stay alive. The world they find is not nearly so fanciful and fun as Lizzie had hoped, for the Shadow Wizard has conquered the heroes and champions and enslaved most everyone else.

Dark forces begin to hunt them almost immediately as Lizzie, Jack, and their magical horses set out to find new heroes to defend Kyreo. If they fail, their lives, the world of Kyreo, and even Earth itself may hang in the balance.

Lizzie Peterson (or) Legends of Kyreo is a middle grade fantasy and is complete at 65,000 words. This stand-alone story has series potential and will appeal to readers who enjoy the Fablehaven and Percy Jackson stories.

So, what do you think? Which series title? Lizzie Peterson, or Legends of Kyreo? And don't forget to tell me why!

Next post: the results, and a discussion about Character.

Interesting Read on E-Books

Some friends sent me this link from portfolio.com with an article talking about shifts in e-publishing and what that means for authors. Thought you might find it interesting, folks.

I think more and more each day that e-publishing is a viable route for new writers.

Interview with Deirdra Eden Coppel

I was interviewed by Deirdra Eden Coppel, another talented writer! Very cool. If you're interested, you can check out the interview entitled "Interview with Author and Senior Editor, Joshua J. Perkey."

Let me know what you think.

I'll have a follow up interview featuring Deirdra sometime soon. If you are interested in an author interview on my blog, let me know and we can chat!

Huffington Post Article on e-Publishing/e-Books

Excellent article in the Huffington Post entitled, "How Will Ebooks Change the Author Experience."

The author of this post, Jason Pinter, makes some excellent points about how e-Publishing (how do you spell that? We need and industry standard!) means certain mileposts and events that are special to an author will disappear: book signings, seeing others read your books or those of your friends (hard to do with a kindle), and so on.

I think he makes a great point about a few of these, especially the feeling you might get seeing your books on shelves, in people's hands, etc.

But I also fear what is happening with publishers in general. There's the obvious statement: I'd much rather have people reading my ebooks than not reading my books at all because I can't get a publisher to pick me up. And frankly, book signings are only partially intriguing to me. Tons of work with a small return.

Then there are the horror stories I've been reading about increasingly dishonest practices in the industry. Those are hard to verify, but they cause greater anxiety to an aspiring author who already knows that more and more of the marketing depends on me, I'm getting a smaller and smaller amount of cash from the publisher anyway, and I may get raked over the coals.

So, what do you think, folks, about what Jason has to say?

Welcome New Followers, and Another Konrath Must Read

I thought I'd say welcome to some of my new followers. Thanks for joining me on my blog! I'm still learning the cool tech features, but I've seen some people do some pretty cool welcomes with links and such. Let's see if I can do that for a few of you. Here are links to your blogs that I can easily link to. Sorry if I've missed some of you. I promise it was inadvertent! Check them out and make some new friends.

Julie Coulter Bellon
Stacy Coles
Shallee McArthur
Jennifer
Aimee Beatrice Jodoin (official coolest name award!)
Melissa Ann Goodwin
Kathryn Packer Roberts
Cindy M Hogan
Donna K. Weaver

Thanks again!

Ok, on to something more important. Again, I happened across another post today that's really got me thinking about the e-publishing model. Now that I have it from the horse's mouth, so to speak, that the main reason the midlist publisher passed on my middle grade fantasy, alternatively titled Lizzie Peterson and the Places of Naming or Legends of Kyreo: The Places of Naming, because their quota was full, I'm more confident putting it out there.

But first, I'm pitching nationally to see what happens.

In the meantime, you've got to read this post, Tech Talk and the Active EBook, by Joe Konrath. It's very much a fantasy come true in terms of daydreaming, but we're not far away at all from these possibilities. Read it, and let me know what you think.

Excellent Post on Current Trends

Well, I was all set to write a new, original post. But then I came along this post by agent Mandy Hubbard (note this links to her personal website, this link is for Mandy Hubbard's blog) and though some of you have already seen this, it's just too good not to pass along. So I'll follow up with something on Thursday--probably a little survey about MG titles.

Back to Mandy: she just spent a week meeting with many, many publishers in New York. In fact, she had 37 meetings in all. In her post entitled, "Epic Post on Trends (YA and MG)" she lists great content about what editors are actively seeking, doing, and thinking about. Read it. It's worth every second of the five minutes you'll spend.

My First Fan Mail

Once in a while something happens that brings such joy to us that we can't help being overly excited and want to share it with the world. Then, we step back and analyze what happened, feeling anxious we've overstated the situation and should calm down.

But it turns out we were, in fact, right, and that it was, in fact, as awesome as we thought.

That happened to me this week. I unexpectedly received my first ever true fan mail.

One of my readers, a twelve-year-old young man, decided he wanted to send me a note about my book. So he hand wrote a note. I'm still in awe and humbled that he would go out of his way to do that. I'm going to quote it below because, well, I hope you all have the opportunity to get something like this one day. I may even frame it. Keep in mind he read it well over a month ago, so this was truly unexpected.

This is for my middle grade fantasy, Lizzie Peterson and the Places of Naming.

"Dear Josh Perkey,

"I read your book and I loved it! I am a big fantasy fan myself and I absolutely loved your book! I have drawn pictures of Pyrwing and Genivere because I liked your book so much.

"I would like to make some suggestions. First, the title. I, for one, don't think of "Lizzie" as a very "epic" name. The title would be much more appealing (to me at least) if you dropepd the "Lizzie Peterson" part and just did "The Places of Naming."

"Other than that there's nothing else I would change. Love your book!"

"Your fan, _[his name]_"

And he included the hand drawn pictures, which were way, way cool. A black stallion pegasus and a white unicorn, drawn to show they really do kick some major booty in the adventure. I can't even draw stick figures, and he sent me these incredible images.

Wow.  Thanks again, my young friend. You're one awesome fan.

So, with that note, my next post will be about a new title for the book. I take this seriously. I want to see what you think. And here's to hoping that, in whatever endeavors you engage in, you get lucky enough to have this kind of feedback. It makes all the rejections, the waiting, the intense effort, the writing, the rewriting, the editing, the marketing, the incorporating feedback, and sweat and tears worth it. And that's why I write.

Writing Advice: John Brown on Key Conditions for Suspense

Here's a fantastic essay on the Key Conditions for Suspense, by author John Brown. John is an amazing writer, extremely talented in the craft of story telling and in teaching others how to build stories. I may link to him more often--he's got great things to offer.

If you want to read the posts from the beginning, read part 1 at the Key Conditions for Reader Suspense hosted by SFWA.

John's first epic fantasy novel, Servant of a Dark God, is also available, and the sequel should be available soon.

Rethinking My E-Pub Launch

This past weekend I attended the LDS Storymakers Conference. I posted about that a few days ago, and also about rethinking my e-Pub plan. Here's some of my thoughts.

1. Listen to those with experience, especially if they have more than you! Literary agents Becca Stumpf and Sara Crowe, as well as New York Times best-selling authors Brandon Sanderson and Dave Wolverton/Farland, as well as Kirk Shaw, editor for Covenant, all suggested that the timing wasn't right for middle grade fantasy.

Here's the catch: how many kids ages 10-12 do you know who have Kindles, Nooks, or iPads of their own? Thus, how large is the real e-Pub market for my middle grade fantasy as a debut author? Probably not that great.

2. The e-Pub model works, but the timing is just not yet there for my books. In fact, Dave Wolverton told me he'd really like me to give the national market a few more years before I switch over. And this is from the man with 30 years of experience who is also actively taking the e-Pub platform by the horns. He's creating some incredible new user experience content I'd really love to replicate. But he's working with Sci-Fi and Fantasy for adults. It works there.

So my model, I truly believe, is sound. I just don't think the MG market can sustain it. If you can make it work for YA or adults, I think you stand the chance to make good, good money.

3. Cover Costs made it impractical, if not really feasible. To make a cover really stand out you need to be strong in both the 1 inch by .5 inch thumbnail, the larger Amazon image, as well as a book cover. That's tricky to do, but even trickier if you have to compete with national brands with full illustrations that run $2,500 a book. Ick.

But over and over I heard this: You must have a solid, professional looking cover. People will judge the book by what they see. Make them see gold.

What do you think, readers? When's the timing going to be right for the various markets in e-Pubbing?

The Power of Attending Writing Conferences

Attending a literary or writing conference can have a profound impact on your writing, your career, your self esteem, and your over all personal spiritual health.

That's why I'm such a fan of attending them as often as time and money allow.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the 11th LDS Storymakers Conferences this past weekend in Salt Lake City. I mentioned in that post that it was one of my favorite all time conferences. Here's why.

1. The Power of Networking
A. I'll post more extensively about this tomorrow in a post about rethinking my e-Publishing plan. But suffice it to say that through this conference I connected with 3 literary agents, several editors, and several New York Times bestselling author friends that I see mostly at conferences. Their advice changed the landscape for me.

B. I felt rejuvenated talking with so many writing friends. The more conferences I attend, especially locally, the better friendships I develop. Now I consider some of them good friends, and chatting with them always boosts my energy and ego.

But it does more than that, and this is one reason conferences are awesome: I felt really connected with the writing world. I felt part of that bigger community that we are all trying to break into professionally. And I surprised myself at how excited I was at how successful so many other people were doing. I honestly want them to succeed. Actually, that means you, too, my writing friends and associates.

You'd think I'd come away from this feeling jealous because extremely talented authors like Tyler Whitesides are making great strides. Just the opposite happened. I made a good friend in Tyler, and I'm really excited for him. And the better he does, the more excited I'll be. That's a great feeling to have.

C. I also learned about how to network with each other in a way that will increase our global reach together. The interesting thing about blogging and social networking is that it works even better when we promote each other. I have been spending too much time spinning my wheels alone when I now realize I can be so much more effective working with others and building each other.


D. I pitched to several agents, and one requested a full manuscript review and the other a 30-page partial review. Folks, that is HUGE! I am so excited! And I made such connections by being at the most laid back environment I've ever experienced at a conference. Way better than World Fantasy last fall. People here, even the national agents, were truly interested in chatting with us and offering advice and hearing what we had to say.

2. Learning
I already mentioned this in 'C' above, but I learned a great deal at this conference about marketing. In fact, I mostly attended marketing classes on the power of effective Twitter usage (I'm converted, finally, even though I still don't know how), blogging, and a horde of other things. Excellent.

3. Teaching
I taught two classes at this conference: writing for the Church magazines, and how to write back cover copy, or the secret to pitches and queries. Both classes went very well. In fact, I already have plans for improving the back cover copy class and make it more interactive, enhanced, and more my own baby. For this presentation I relied heavily on others' ideas. Now they are becoming more and more my own.

4. Love of the Game
Well, that about says it all. The writing game is extraordinary, and this conference brought that to full fruition. I talked to a number of people about their personal plans, learned much, much more about e-Pubbing and legacy publishing, and even presented at the Whitney Awards. Great times, great times.

So, more later about individual authors and about my new plans.

LDS Storymakers conference

Sorry I have been incognito this week, folks. I've been preparing for my presentation at the LDS Storymakers conference yesterday and today. This has been the best conference I have attended, bar none. It's got me rethinking my entire launch strategy. I'll blog about this extensively next week.

I met a number of agents, talented writers, and reconnected with great editors and friends. National agents Becca Stumpf, Sara Crowe, and Sara Megibow have all been charming. Great classes on marketing and the craft of writing.

And my own presentation on writing for the Church and national magazines went quite well.

If you're in the Salt Lake City area and you are a writer, do yourself a favor and come on down today. You won't be disappointed.